this is business live from bbc news with victoria fritz and maryam moshiri. a new road ahead for renault — as carlos ghosn resigns and the french carmaker set to announce his replacement. live from london, that's our top story on thursday the 24th of january. the french finance minister confirms ghosn‘s departure from renault, but will the move help ease tensions with its japanese partner nissan? also in the programme microsoft's search engine bing is blocked in china — as trade tensions between beijing and the us remain high. and stock market gains are muted — despite strong earnings from the likes of ibm and the consumer goods company proctor and gamble. and we'll be live in davos, head of the world trade organisation has been talking to our very own sally bundock about trade (mix

today we want to know how do you deal with stress in the workplace? this comes after prince william reveals his mental health was affected when he worked as an ambulance pilot and he needed to open up to his fellow colleagues. let us know — just use the hashtag bbcbizlive hello and welcome to business live. we start in paris — where the french finance minister bruno le maire has announced carlos ghosn has stepped down as chairman and chief executive of renault. it's been effectively left without a boss since november, when ghosn was arrested and held in japan for alleged financial misconduct. the french government is renault‘s top shareholder — and last week finance minister le maire piled on the pressure — saying "renault needs sustainable governance". carlos ghosn is accused of failing to disclose some $80 million he was paid when he was also boss

of nissan between 2010 and 2018, which he denies. the japanese firm has already sacked him, but renault‘s own investigation has cleared him. and this is where the big problem lies. renault has controlled nissan since it rescued it from bankruptcy back in 1999 — despite these days being a far smaller company. some have suggested the allegations against ghosn are part of a wider japanese push to take back control from the french. renault‘s board meets in a few hours to announce ghosn‘s replacement — jean—dominique senard — who runs tyre giant michelin. and thierry bollore — who was carlos ghosn‘s deputy are expected to be named as his replacements. japan's nikkei newspaper says france will now try and merge renault, nissan and its other partner mitsubishi into one company. jim holder, editorial director at autocar is with me now. that's the key for whoever takes

over at the helm, to try and ease the rocky road. it was nissan signalling that it wants to steer its own future. what the strength in the partnership is bringing the sides together and capitalising on the scale it gets as a result but anything that could break that up is anything that could break that up is a risk to its future. explain to me exactly how bad relationship works because it's quite a complicated system. renault owns a certain percentage of nissan, nissan owns a smaller percentage of renault, there isa smaller percentage of renault, there is a lack of balance. there is in balance, renault is the smaller company. that's what it wants to address. but at the same time you have the french and renault wanting

to ta ke have the french and renault wanting to take over, to merge and take full advantage of the scale of economies that they can in a time in the car industry from everyone is investing heavily and looking to electrification and all sorts of other things that need investment and they don't want to risk anything that would stop up. the synergy is obvious between these companies in terms of what the produce of the ca i’s terms of what the produce of the cars they produce. you would think it would make sense and an chilly but the companies to merge. especially given the lack of demand right now in the global car industry. absolutely, they are under pressure from all sides and the one thing they need to do is grow scale and work together. they have product plans that will be laid over 10—15 yea rs plans that will be laid over 10—15 years at least and anything that on banned those plans will be hugely damaging. but you the have personality of the company, the individual sites to the companies and they want to show their pre—eminence. and they want to show their pre-eminence. carlos ghosn cap that together, strong leadership and personality kept the companies

together, is that going to be possible without him? he was the do and had the force of personality, he could control each side of the power struggle. a new person coming in is going to have to fight that and they no one side of the partnership, nissan, is pushing to find independence. to pull that together in the way carlos ghosn did will be a real battle. jim, thank you. let's take a look at some of the other stories making the news chinese telecoms giant huawei says sales at its consumer business hit a new record last year, on strong demand for its premium smartphones — with sales exceeding $52 billion in 2018. huawei, the world's biggest producer of telecommunications equipment, has been facing intense scrutiny in the past year over its relationship with china's government and us—led allegations that its devices could be used by beijing for spying. the firm has repeatedly denied the accusations. it's being reported that the news website buzzfeed

is planning to lay off about 15% of its workforce , as the firm seeks to reorient itself in a shifting digital—media landscape. the cuts could affect around 250 jobs. the firm also is looking to realign its resources to invest more in promising areas of the business like content licensing and e—commerce. real madrid has topped the table of the world's 20 richest football clubs by revenue, displacing manchester united — who are now in third place, according to consultants deloitte. its football money league, based on season 2017—18, also shows the combined revenues of the top 20 clubs has risen 6% to $9.1ibn — a new record. six english premier league clubs are now in the top 10. i'm a chelsea fan, to be honest. i'm

liverpool. 0h i'm a chelsea fan, to be honest. i'm liverpool. oh dear, i think i will sit a little bit further away from you! microsoft's search engine bing appears to be being blocked in china. it could be the latest salvo in a tit—for—tat trade war. mariko 0i is in singapore... why do you think they'd ain't doing this? that's the big question, microsoft says to the bbc that being appears inaccessible but that hasn't said further its censorship or a technical problem. it's the latest foreign website if confirmed to be blocked by the chinese authorities which operate a fireball that blocks many us tech platforms including facebook and twitter. they also what they consider controversial content, things like the tiananmen square massacre. this is, as you mentioned, there is speculation of whether this is because of the trade for which we don't know but microsoft confirming

that bing is an accessible in china. thank you. let's look at the markets quickly. pretty muted day. a third consecutive day of falls for the nikkei today. equities movements were muted in early asia—pacific trading — there were strong earnings results from several major us companies overnight, including ibm and proctor and gamble. but they failed to allay concerns over waning global growth and pessimism over us—china trade. growth injapan‘s manufacturing sector stalled in january, halting the longest growth streak in more than a decade. here in europe... the picture not looking much better, if i'm honest. a little bit of growth in sterling pushing the value of the ftse down by four tenths of 196 of the ftse down by four tenths of 1% at the moment. and michelle fleury has the details of what's ahead on wall street today.

in the thick of corporate earnings to date. ford was weighed down by losses in europe as well as china. 0ne—time pension costs eating into its earnings. investors looking ahead will pay close attention to airline stocks, jet blue, southwest airlines all scheduled to report quarterly earnings this thursday. after a steep rise in fuel prices which put pressure on profits all street wa nts which put pressure on profits all street wants to know how they are faring. there will also be keeping an eye on any indications that this partial government shut down entering its 34th day is it hurting business at the major carriers? there is turning in the report cards on intel, starbucks and pharmaceutical company was still my is scope. joining us is kokou agbo—bloua from societe generale. you either head of float strategy,

explain to me what that is. we look at market flows and positioning across all asset classes and the advice investors in terms of investment strategy. given that what you do and you have been looking at the overall macro view of what's been going on where do we stand right now with the markets because it's been quite subdued but it wasn't that kind of year? it was a pretty bizarre year because 90% of all asset class was underperforming. it was a very difficult environment for investors to perform. 0ne it was a very difficult environment for investors to perform. one of the things we are doing is looking at the business cycle and argue is that winter is coming, so to speak. 0h dear. we see ourselves and the global economy in late stage of the gold cycle. and therefore we expect the recession in 2020. this is the

big question, when will the next recession be and how bad will it be? i know you were in copenhagen recently talking to long—term, big investors. how are they positioning themselves for the next 5—10 years. investors in europe around the globe are cognisant of the fact that an end of cycle is going to be difficult to time and therefore they are looking into asset allocation and dry to find ways to have more and dry to find ways to have more and more defensive portfolios that could withstand a drop that we could see could withstand a drop that we could see in 2020. what about if you have a little investment, you have a penchant you're managing yourself. should you be doing the same thing, looking at defensive stocks, is that the way to go? absolutely. we've been through one of the longest cycles in history that started in 2008-9. one cycles in history that started in 2008—9. one of the things we are seeing is monetary policy is

withdrawing liquidity and rates are much higher in the us. for a normal investor looking at asset allocation between cash, bonds and equity is crucial. thank you. thanks so much. still to come we'll be live in davos, where our very own sally bundock is standing by for us. the wto is broken and that's the view in davos. according to the us. i'll speak to the head of the w p0. i'll speak to the head of the w p0. i'll get his views. you can see that ina i'll get his views. you can see that in a moment. hs2 is planned as a high—speed rail link between london and birmingham — then carrying on to manchester and leeds. but this morning a group of business leaders say they have serious concerns the northern leg will never be finished. ben thompson's in manchester's

piccadilly station for us this morning. we are talking about this 350 mile route, the first stage has been given approval but there are questions over the routes that will ta ke questions over the routes that will take it further north to leeds and manchester but whether they will get the green light and whether funding will be available given the history of this country when it comes to cost overruns of this country when it comes to cost overruns for of this country when it comes to cost overruns for big infrastructure projects. with me is henry morrison, the director of the northern powerhouse partnership. you've written to mp5 warning if the line isn't built that has serious indications for the economy of the north and midlands. what are worried about? we need to see the full completion of h52, leeds and manchester in 2033. it will unlock huge benefits in terms of going to london but importantly allowing people to get to get the birmingham,

increasing west coast capacity, otherwise we would have to upgrade the line. it's a non—negotiable power. it comes at a cost of £56 billion, some said the money will be better spent improving rail transport east west, from leeds to manchester and liverpool which crudely takes hours. the reality is next month we will bring forward for plans to government about what the scheme should look like, the east like —— east—west railway. but it cannot be a choice between that and high—speed two. in the north of england the bill had been starved of investment for too long, the government has to understand we can contribute more to the economy and be successful in key sectors like energy and manufacturing but we need investment. henry, thank you. that's the view from the north above what it could mean to extend the route and make sure it gets built from leeds to manchester. the next stages are due to be debated in parliament next year and the year after but as yet, no guarantee that they will be

built. go to the website. news from bridget su, the boss says he has no intention of moving the headquarters from london. he says i'm not going anywhere. —— from the company fujitsu. your're watching business live — our top story — the french finance minister confirms carlos ghosn has stepped down as chairman and chief executive of renault, his replacements are expected to be named later today. let's go to the swiss ski resort of davos now — which is hosting the global elite for the annual world economic forum. our own sally bundock is there — she's been talking to the head of the world trade organisation — roberto azevedo. tell us more. let me tell you who i

was talking to on the balcony last year. carl is gone, i was talking to him, part of the global elite, what a difference a year makes. we've been talking to lots of different people about all sorts. to give you a sense of what's on the agenda, the finance minister and chancellor will of hammond is on a panel, high—profile panel chaired by the founder of davos, it's all about the new impetus for europe. it'll be interesting to hear what philip hammond has to say stop the european commission competition commissioner is also there, the dutch minister, the chief executive of santander is there also. quite a high—profile event getting under way in about an hour. many in that room watching and watching on screens around here in davos. a big conversation has been trade, global trade, the spat between the us and china, brexit come of what those that mean for trade for the uk and europe, a lot of people talking about that and

that's what i spoke to the head of the wto about. i put it the criticism coming from the united states, in particular president john, that global trade is broken, the wto is broken sublets listen to what he said. we have a mandate from the 620 leaders to reform the system intruding the united states, who was very vocal in promoting and proposing this reform. this is an opportunity to take care of many of those shortcomings. you say the us is very focal, president trump has threatened to withdraw the us from the wto saying it treats the us unfairly. that's the reform, that's exactly what the us dry to achieve this reform, to achieve more balance in disciplines, the rules of the wto. that's a conversation that has to be acceptable to everyone, all

the members will have to be on board, at least the important group of members who have to be on board with the changes that the us would like to see. many say the trade war is evidence that your organisation isn't working, one of the big issues isn't working, one of the big issues is how long it takes to solve disputes. i would say the criticism comes from people who don't have to abide for the w teodor is because really we are working hard, a lot of what happens since 2008 since the financial crisis, 0fwat has not happened since then, a very significant impression, a complete turn to unilateral measures, rejection, rampant protectionism. none of that happened precisely because this is the function. is it the perfect system, the system everyone would like to see, maybe not. but i would say without this syste m not. but i would say without this system the situation of the global economy will be much much worse than it is today. let's talk about exit,

what do you think is the best route for the what do you think is the best route forthe uk, what do you think is the best route for the uk, soft brexit or hard brexit? whatever is best for the uk economy, whatever brings the uk citizen a better quality of living, better quality of life. that is what is best for the country. as far as the organisation is concerned and looking from a global respective, i would say the less disruption, the less disturbance, the less ripples into the global economy, the better. that's the head, the director—general of the wto. he has two and a half years to go in that role, i asked two and a half years to go in that role, iasked him two and a half years to go in that role, i asked him what he might do afterwards, he said he might become afterwards, he said he might become a bbc correspondent, he quite fancies reporting on travel, holidays! i thought i was quite funny. also later today the brexit panel here at the world economic forum. i'm chairing that, they asked some particular politicians to join me for the panel, they haven't said

they will follow through with that, i have some academics and some experts to discuss a brexit later. i got a busy day ahead. i will hand back to you both. sounds very busy indeed. a bbc holiday correspondent, that's a good job, we could do that. a couple of takers for that exclamation three of us now. four potentially, if we include theo leggett who is also looking at a different story. travel of the nature. airbus chief executive tom enders has issued yet another stark warning about the effect a no deal brexit would have on the aviation giant's uk business. airbus, one of britain's biggest manufacturers with 111,000 employees in the uk, would be forced to make "potentially very harmful decisions" for its uk business, he said , in the event of a no deal. theo leggett nowjoins us from our business newsroom. business correspondent, perhaps one

day holiday travel correspondent before the meantime brexit correspondent. madness, disgrace, pretty strong words from tom enders. i think we can confidently say as far as airbus is concerned the gloves have come off. this company has the morning about the detention impact the brexit before the 2016 referendum. last year it issued a risk assessment, saying a no deal exit will be catastrophic for the company. what's changed now is because of the inertia in the house of commons in britain, the fact that there is no way forward as yet, the company is taking that risk of a no deal brexit very, very seriously. tom enders, leaving as chief executive next april, perhaps that's a good thing in terms of being able to say what some people might call the unsayable, he's very willing to put his cards on the table. potentially very serious consequences for uk factories and saint don't believe the madness as

he calls it the brexiteers to tell you we would move factories out of the country. he says, yes it's very difficult to move massive investments from one country to another but in the long—term, this isa another but in the long—term, this is a business that big stick its into the future, future investment, he seen pretty clearly will not come to the uk. theo, thank you. what other business stories has the media been taking an interest in? kokou agbo-bloua from societe generale is with us again we are talking today about mental health at work. prince wiliam top to delegates at davos about his struggles with mental health that he was working as an air ambulance pilot andy talked about his mental health charity which he said of three years ago and he said it had a distinct lack of celebrities wanting tojoin because of distinct lack of celebrities wanting to join because of the stigma attached to mental health in the workplace. you, working within a big international bank, do you feel

there is stigma attached to coming up there is stigma attached to coming up and saying i have mental health problems. yes, to some extent, finance and markets in general are pretty stressful environments, high expectations of employees in terms of the performance. so i think a lot of the performance. so i think a lot of employees or dealing with mental health problems and not necessarily coming out as much as we think and they should. but i think there also beena they should. but i think there also been a huge amount of initiative with our human resources departments to try and educate managers and learn how to handle signs and symptoms of mental health problems. talking about how people handle anxiety and stress in the workplace, we asked people about this on social media, tell us what you are doing, we've had some tweets, mark says exercise and sleep, that's all that he stresses and puts me in a good place. linda says we had no blame process group verstappen made us stronger and united working. we only

express how we felt and what we could do differently and condiment what we did right. yes, i think these are answers, and spot—on. in my particular case i've discovered and realised exercise was an amazing way to release stress and did something i was not doing a lot of in the beginning of my career when i was a in the beginning of my career when i wasa trainerand in the beginning of my career when i was a trainer and in an american investment bank and over dry to adapt your schedule and forcing yourself to have time for exercise and sport in particular, cardio work—out, is crucial. and sport in particular, cardio work-out, is crucial. for many people doing sport us and go for another in helping them, they have real mental health struggles. do you think enough is being done in workplaces to actually address that, do you think it's the role of a boss to be there and be more open about things, i know you said you run the department was 20 people. what kind of babos argued when it comes to leaving that all open for mental health issues to come through? this is an important point, we spend so

many hours and days with your employees over time you build a very strong relationship because performance, being at stake, you can clearly see people who have issues with the personal lives, or assertive, they have some buttons and ultimately it is affecting their performance. so we have a culture of more openness and it's also a relationship of trust that your manager, some of these topics could be personal. as long as you build a level of trust, in my particular case and seen instances where employees have come up. 0k. case and seen instances where employees have come up. ok. so good to talk to you, thank you so much for joining to talk to you, thank you so much forjoining us. that's it from business live today. thank you so much for all of your tweets. there will be more business news throughout the day on the bbc live webpage and on world business report. have a great weekend and happy friday. it's only thursday! good morning. another cold and

frosty start to the day. some is this morning across northern and eastern areas. some went to shower is pushing through, there's warm front in the west introducing some outbreaks of rain and milder air sitting behind at which will gradually push in. throughout this morning the wintry showers across the east are clearing away, some sunny spells across eastern england and across the east of scotland in two this afternoon. the rest the cloud increasing, patchy rain moving from northern ireland, western scotland, wales & west, signs of milderair scotland, wales & west, signs of milder air pushing in. scotland, wales & west, signs of milderair pushing in. the scotland, wales & west, signs of milder air pushing in. the rain pushing oestrus, turning quite heavy across the west of scotland. but one front i should you at the start moving east, behind it all is mild air slowly filtering its way in. a

much milder start to friday morning concurred to recent days. temperature starting at 7—10d. still perhaps a little bit chilly in the far east of things. temperatures between 1—2d. during friday quite a bit of cloud, shrubbery outbreaks of rain spreading into scotland, northern ireland, north western areas of england and wales. some sunny spells and eastern parts but the temperatures, a big difference to recent days. 9—12d. that warm weather front across northern parts as we go into the weekend. this area of low pressure spreading in as we go through the weekend, turning windy on saturday, some heavy rain and hill snow across scotland, heavy rain moving its way through northern ireland. gradually moving into wales, the south—west of england, central and eastern parts remaining dry on saturday, quite mild. temperatures between 9—11d. through saturday night the rain pushing into

the south—east, a very wet night to come, hill snow across the pennines. eventually during sunday the rain clearing away to the south—east. the northerly winds bringing cold eric backin northerly winds bringing cold eric back in across the uk. there will be snow at times and temperatures will be down about 4—8d but with the brisk northerly wind probably feeling colder than those temperatures suggest. a weekend of two halves. goodbye. you're watching bbc news with me, carrie gracie. the headlines: the family of a woman who died in a speedboat crash on the thames say they are outraged that man convicted of her death gave an interview to a georgian tv channel. to see him just strolling to the police station smiling and waving,

it is unbelievable. "as big a threat as climate change" — the health secretary is to unveil a five—year plan to tackle antibiotic resistance. donald trump postpones his annual state of the union speech the